Hope show Number 12

A new show has just gone up. I’ve gone international in ecognition of workers rights around the globe. De Kift from Netherlands complement Against Me, Screeching Weasel, Henry Rollins and Kimya Dawson from the States. UK is represented by Brightons Cat on Form, Cardiff’s Four Letter Word, Sunderlands Leatherface, Bristols Discharge, Caernarfons Anhrefn and Barkings Billy Bragg. I also had to play the Members as they are playing Dublin soon. Japan is there because Go hail from there (not to be confused with the Go! from California who played Ireland on June 1 1991 . Irelend is truly represented by Messiah J and the Experts and tempermental Miss Elayneous.

Enjoy

hopeshowNumber12

This is the 12th show. It seems a lot more but hope ya like

1. De kift – wee Mij
2. Against Me – Sink FLorida Sink
3. Cat on Form – Set them on fire with their own matches
4. Four Letter Word – Crimewave
5. Leatherface – Melody Lee
6. Discharge – Protest and survive
7. Anhrefn & One Style MDV – Bankrobber
8. Billy Bragg – There is Power in a union
9. Temper-Mental Misselayneous – Proletrain Restitution
10. Messiah J and The Experts – Seven Cups of coffee and a slice of Apple Strudel
11. Henry Rollins – Black Coffee
12. Go – Pay for it
13. members – sound of the suburbs
14. Screeching Weasel – Hey Suburbia
15. Kimya Dawson/Antsy Pants – Tree Hugger

Othered voices

othered voices (http://farcryproductions.weebly.com/) is a wonderful idea. Brought to people as part of temple bar trad fest it is a left field look at the city and the part we play in todays society.

Tonights gathering of 50 people in a small room on Ormond Quay was a treat. Councillor Mannix Flynn is the curator and he spoke eloquently about the arts speaking for the people and tonights artists were ones that speak from from the heart.

Ophelia McCabe started with a beautiful haunting solo piece. One women and her voice it had us enraptured. She then did two rap pieces and had me muttering (go back to the singing your voice is amazing).

tempermental MissElaynious is a rapper from Finglas and she sure can rap. She puts some amounts of words into each piece. Tonight she was the voice with no backing track, Dublins answer to Benjamin Zephaniah. Cailin Rua was the highlight complete with bodhran.

Jinx was introduced last and he is part punk poet, troubador with slightle eccentric songs. A political Aidan Walsh if you will. One man, a guitar, a beatbox and a penchant for making you think. Jinx sings as he sees it, his job as night porter in a hospital sums him up. You can imagine him with his headphones on making up all sorts of quirky tales about modern life as he sees what life throws at people.
niallhope

Happy Valley anyone?

The whole HMV saga has been interestng hasn’t it? I have bought very little in HMV down through the years as I viewed them as the evil big brother. Trying to pofit fomr our scene but ready to trample on it should an alternative way of making money be found. It all stems from Chumbawamba I suppose. They advised us way back when to boycott Thorn EMI and that developed to the excellent only stupid bastards help emi album.. HMV were part of that empire until it had its day and connections were severed. Not by me though.

And it did lots of business, sold a huge amount of cd’s and dvd’s and somewhere along the way bankrupted itself. From what I read the Irish end of the operation seemed to be profitable but currently it is the irish businesses that remain closed. Of course HMV are based in a different jurusdiction and are operating under the laws of that country. They have more shops in the uk than ireland so may wish to get these sorted before here.

The outcry is the one thing that is fascinating me. I never viewed HMV as a record shop, it was a superstore but probably something that is required so that music can reach the masses. it is a bad thing that the high street doesn’t have a record store? There’s always other streets around the corner, these streets are far more interesting anyway.

I wrote a piece a couple of weeks ago (https://culturie.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/heres-to-a-new-year/) “Anytime you think of something that you feel would be a shame if it ceased then support it. In Dublin it was local shops. Let’s support those worth supporting. ” Ironic that a coouple of weeks later after a hugely busy Christmas period that HMV closed its doors and didn’t pay its staff.

If you felt that it was a shame that HMV closed then support other stores you would like to see open, don’t just sign an e-petition and go off to amazon. Think of other places you like and support these too, excuse me I’m off to casa rebelde (http://casarebelde.com/) for some clothes and then chapters (http://chapters.ie/) or Gutter Books (http://www.gutterbookshop.com/) for a read before having some food in the newly opened lurve (http://lurve.ie/)

Everybody’s On Top of the Pops….except the people not on it!

One of the most interesting things about the TOTP documentary was talk of the Clash and their notorious boycott of the show. They refused to appear and I am sure their record sales suffered to some extent. BBC had their revenge though…and put their troupe of dancers on screen to cavort to Bank Robber when it was stealing (sorry!) up the charts.

But that Clash decision has to be placed in the context of musicians who refused to do something on principle. Something that would help their career, help them sell product. How many acts would actually take a stance that results in lost sales?

Richard Jobson from the Skids said their decision to play the show almost caused the band to break up. Stuart Adamson was furious as he didn’t want to play according to his bandmate. The inspiration of the Clash led to his wish to boycott the show. Jobson talked about the dilemma. It was particularly acute because ‘his friends’ Cook and Jones from the Sex Pistols were telling him to go ahead and play the show…while Adamson was wracked with guilt about it because of the Clash example. The Clash and the Pistols: same era different decisions, different values.

The documentary also discussed how Captain Sensible was told they were off the show if he wore his chosen outfit of a fetching (bridal?) dress! Funny to think of the power wielded by the TOTP producers.

Don’t forget the Gang of Four refused to appear when BBC wanted them to change the lyrics to a song to erase (sorry again, that’s twice) the word rubbers from their song. All of this reminds me of when Krusty the Clown wanted the Red Hot Chili Peppers to tone down their words and they exclaimed what a great idea that was…and then performed the song as written.

I shall continue to think about other bands who have made principled stands. It is a great change from people grabbing at every opportunity for some publicity.

thewildheartedoutsider

Everybody’s On Top of the Pops – The Rezillos

In 1978 two songs (there may have been more) that mentioned Top of the Pops were performed on Top of the Pops. Producer Robin Nash said it was nice to be remembered even if it was irony. Dublin band the Boomtown Rats located their song ‘Rat Trap’ in their native city, where watching Top of the Pops was like literally witnessing a foreign land. In ‘Rat Trap’ little Judy is trying to Top of the Pops but is disturbed by her parents’ arguing. Rock and Pop music in the 1970s was not synonymous with Irish youth.

The song that invoked Top of the Pops most clearly was ‘Everybody’s on Top of the Pops’ by Scottish group The Rezillos. Singer Faye Fife was lucid on the TOTP Story of 1978 admitting that the song was poking fun at the show rather than honouring it. The band were a fantastic glam amalgam of sixties retro-chic/kitsch, pop smarts and all round good fun. I never saw them in their early days, although it should be remembered that they were one of the first ‘new wave’ bands to visit Ireland. Indicating the paucity of live venues at the time they played the Liberty Hall venue. Unions and Punk Rock…the unexpected relationship! Vox Magazine had a good interview with the band who sounded positive despite the violence at the gig. Sadly that was almost expected at the new wave gigs during the era.

I did catch them in the Blackpool Rebellion Festival a couple of years ago and they were incredible. One of the best acts I have seen there. The songs were sharp, tight and energetic. And the band looked like they were having a good time. Really punchy performance. Really memorable performance. Highly recommended.

A couple of interesting facts about the Rezillos:
Early member Jo Callis later joined the Human League where he enjoyed lots of success.
Another early member, David Smythe has a really good section on his website about his involvement with the band. He also has some great information about nuclear power and climate change which are his areas of expertise!
The band were signed by Sire Records who had the Ramones and Talking Heads and toured with the Ramones.
They opened for the Stranglers in Glasgow in 1977.
They were probably the first Scottish ‘new wave’ band to release a single!

I love this quote from David. It sums up what I have always maintained about the music industry. Few things happen by accident. The people who work the hardest and who get co-operation by enthusiastic supporters often make the greatest progress.

“In hindsight, the early success over the next seven or eight months was due to hard work, brilliant art-school publicity, no drugs or groupies, and good organisation. We had enthusiastic volunteers like Alpin Ross-Smith who ran the sound system, and roadies who worked just for the free beer.”

Check out these links for some more insight into the career of one of the most unique bands of the era.

http://davidsmythe.org/rezillos/can%27t-stand-review-93.htm
http://davidsmythe.org/rezillos/the%20rezillos.htm#links
http://www.glasgowapollo.com/index.asp?s_id=1&m_id=21&IVEE_ID=3

thewildheartedoutsider

Music and Politics – Johnny Marr

Music and Politics: Johnny Marr

This is a really interesting interview with one of the great guitarists of our time. I always loved how Marr made the guitar sound and how he collaborated with such a variety of acts. I got to see the Smiths a couple of times and was really swept up by the music they created both times. The first time was in Trinity when the Ents Officer Paddy Goodwin brought them over with about one week’s notice. There was little fanfare, and as I recall about 300 people there for one of the best gigs of my life. They were still in excellent form when they came back and played two nights in a SFX.

One quote really stood out for me. And I am putting it at the end of this blog entry. Marr finds fault with the original punk movement and it is great to see it questioned and critiqued. There was a fantastic piece of television on recently: a BBC show about Top of the Pops in 1978. I am going to write about that later. One thing that jumped out was how the BBC producers (who came across as a very conservative bunch) dealt with the punk/new wave bands with strong women singers. For Blondie and Debbie Harry with their pop smarts and her conventional good looks the camera lingered on her. For Siouxsie with more challenging and daring music and a more unconventional appearance the BBC authorities slapped on the special effects and made the band appear spooky and weird. Viv Albertine was her usual insightful and composed self in the documentary, and praised Siousxie for being so commanding and composed. A role model for lots of women who took up music.

“We were of that generation that came after punk and post-punk,” he explains. “We’re grateful for the revolution, but there was a bit of homophobia there, and sexism. There wasn’t in indie. People don’t talk about it now, but it was non-macho. If you were an alternative musician, you were political, because of the times [Thatcherism and the Falklands war]. It was taken for granted that the bands you shared a stage with had the same politics. I’m not sure you could say that now.” Johnny Marr 2013

PS for a great insight into Marr, The Smiths and the second-generation Irish in Britian check out Sean Campbell’s incredible book: Irish Blood, English Hear: Second Generation Irish Musicians in England

thewildheartedoutsider

Hope Show number 10

New show is streaming live and ready for download. A bit of Geoffrey to start off mixed with classic DC punk rastas Bad Brains, DAn LE Sac gets me dancing across the room with Scroobius Pip. Weakerthans calm things down before Steve Drewett, the neurotics and Attila the stockbroker bring back sweet memories. The Mob were amazing live and Propgogandhi and the evens finish up. Enjoy

hopeshowNumber10

1. Geoffrey Oicott – I was Montys Double
2. Bad Brains – I against I
3. Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – Letter From God To Man
4. The Ex – Listen to the Painters
5. Weakerthans – Elegy for Gump Worsley
6. Steve Drewett and the Indestructable Beat – Capital Radio
7. Newtown Neurotics – Does Anyone Know where the march is
8. Attila The Stockbroker – Washington Bullets
9. The Mob – I hear you laughing
10. Propogandhi – And we think Nation States are a bad idea / utter crap song
11. The Evens – Timothy Wright

Incredible web sites for people who love music.

I was reading about Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark on the Guardian website while eating my breakfast yesterday. In the comments section there was a link to this INCREDIBLE site. It looks like some Irish person has gone to A LOT of trouble to scan in copies of Smash Hits magazine from the 1980s. Most people probably don’t appreciate that before it became the exclusive domain of boy and girl bands for teens it actually covered some really good music. I know that term ‘good music’ is pretty subjective, yet the ska and two-tone of the early 80s was incredible music. A lot of the post punk music was interesting too. Anyhow even though I have no time these days for anything…I did manage to take a trip down memory lane via the scans of Smash Hits. The interview with Malcolm McLaren was really interesting. And the behind-the-scenes report on the new pop show called the Tube was also really interesting. Host Paula Yates came across really badly, while co-host Jools Holland came across much better. There was a really funny insight into how the bands and their management behaved too. Twisted Sister (remember ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’?) were very angry when the photographer took snaps of them during rehearsal. Their manager demanded the camera so he could destroy the film lest their fans see them without make up! Also mentioned was how Motorhead were really angry to avoid Iggy Pop who was on the same show as them. Apparently he had bitten one of them at a previous meeting.
Metal bands and manners!
Thank you to the magnificent blogger at Like Punk Never Happened. Blogspot.ie

The issue at the top of the page is 30 years old and features Malcolm McLaren, The Tube and the Jam. Does life get any better?
likepunkneverhappened.blogspot.ie

thewildheartedoutsider

Happy New Year

I was watching the Jools Holland End of Year Show.

It was really interesting to see the respect he gave to the Dubliners. It is funny how a folk band who emerged in the wake of the Clancy Brothers could still command such respect and prominence on the TV across the Irish Sea. It makes me wonder about what other Irish acts from the 1960s would still be respected today if they were still around.

I really enjoyed Dexy’s too. Hard to believe that time has rushed past since my first ever gig when they played in the Mansion House in 1980. It literally changed my life. The Tearjerkers from Northern Ireland opened and there was a comedy interlude by a young comedian by the name of Keith Allen. He told jokes about the SAS which the audience didn’t seem to find funny at all as I recall. One of the most incredible things about the gig was how at the end Kevin Rowland announced that as there were no barriers between the audience and the band we were all invited to come and say hello and meet the band. I was faced with the prospect of missing the last 46a home…yet who could resist such an invitation? It led to a life of going to gigs and walking.

Happy New year
the wildheartedoutsider

Hope Show Number 9

Hope Show Number 9

So it’s a new year and for the tail end of 2012 I neglected my weekly radio ahow at radioactiveinternational.org Hopefully the technical difficulties that ensued in December have now been ironed out and I will be able to get the show up every Saturday for 9 pm. I playeed a mixture of old and new for this weeks show – playlist and reasons as follows

1. the evens – Competing with the till I’ve just got the new evens album and am delighted by how good it sounds. this needs to be shared

2. fawn spots Spanish Glass Best 7″ for me last year was this record by the fawn spots on the excellent Louder Than War label

3. American Steel – Love And Logic I always enjoy singing along to American Steel and this Song gets my loudest chant ‘Destroy their future before it kills us’ indeed

4. Los Fastidios – Cruelty Free One of the best live bands of 2012, vegan anti-fascist and diy and proud. What more could you want

5. The Membranes – Time Warp 1991 I am forever being accused of being stuck in a Time Warp – well before 1991 I’m afraid. The membranse turned me on to active diy and I’m delighted to see their names back on bills for gigs again.

6. Black Cougar Shock Unit We Don’t have a nail big enough for Peter Lorre I have great memories of Black Cougar Shock Unit playing in Dublin – not last year but it only feels that recent. I also picked up some great stuff from Dave at newest Industry recently so wanna share this

7. Duncan Redmonds – Romford Now a star of BBC Radio 6 Sean Forbes is guest vocals on this along with Duncan from Snuff playing Drums and telling us what they really think of the beautiful pictureque village of Romford. Sean is the skinhead leader of Hard Skin (well one of three hard leaders) who have a new album out soon – one for 2013 eh?

8. Jawbreaker – Chemistry Jawbreaker – what more can I say?

9. Flies on You – Slashing it Down One of the albums of 2012, with the great Nerve Rack bass sound of 1987

10. Ginger Wildheart – Internal Radio I saw Ginger play an acoustic gig in August – I knew nothing about him and was enthralled by the audience singalong.

11. Joe Solo – We’re All Gay Joe came over to Dublin as part of Lithium Joe in the 90’s. He’s now playig solo and kicking against the pricks in 2012 with new songs every week

12. The Ruts – In A Rut Best live band of the year for me – I was amazed when I saw these in Rebellion

13. Paranoid Visions – Outsider Artist Irish album of the year – this is their collabaration with TV Smith

14. the evens – Architects Sleep Wanted to finish on a high note, the baritone guitar doesn’t go too high but this really is a great album.

Enjoy
niallhope